🌊 Ghislaine to Testify?

RIP to a heavy metal legend

After years of drug abuse, Ozzy Osborne vowed to never take acid again after he engaged in an hour long conversation with a horse. He recalled this incident during the recording of Black Sabbath’s Vol. 4: “I took 10 tabs of acid then went for a walk in a field. I ended up standing there talking to this horse for about an hour. In the end, the horse turned round and told me to fuck off. That was it for me.”

May he rest in peace and be swiftly reunited with that horse.

–Max and Max

KEY STORY

Pressure Mounts for Ghislaine to Testify

House Speaker Mike Johnson (R-LA) announced that the House would begin its recess early after the House Oversight Committee voted to subpoena Ghislaine

• Over the last two weeks, House Republicans have blocked legislation from reaching the floor that would require the release of additional files related to Jeffrey Epstein

• On Tuesday, Johnson announced that the House of Representatives would begin its August recess a day early, thereby avoiding votes on releasing files related to Epstein

• Hours earlier, the House Oversight Committee voted unanimously to subpoena Ghislaine Maxwell for testimony, and Deputy Attorney General Todd Blanche announced that he had contacted Maxwell's attorney to arrange a meeting

Dig Deeper

• Johnson criticized efforts to force a vote as Democratic "gotcha politics," arguing that expeditious file releases could accidentally expose victims

• Rep. Thomas Massie (R-KY) – perhaps the most vocal Republican proponent of releasing the files – responded by asking, "Who's [Johnson] going to pick? Is he going to pick the pedophiles and the underage sex traffickers, or is he going to pick the American people and justice for the victims?"

KEY STORY

Japanese First?

A populist, right-wing party surged in Japan's elections this weekend, on a “Japanese First” platform

• Japan has long had stable, center-right politics. Since the assassination of PM Shinzo Abe in 2022, though, his ruling LDP party has suffered a series of setbacks

• This weekend, a right-wing populist party surged in elections. Its “Japanese First” platform calls for replacing Japan's US-drafted pacifist constitution, curbing “globalist” trade deals, and returning the emperor as head of state

• The party’s name, Sanseito, translates to "participate-in-politics party." It was founded in 2020, during the pandemic, and gained attention through YouTube videos that opposed Covid vaccination, lockdowns, and masking, as well as warnings against what leader Sohei Kamiya calls a "silent invasion" of foreigners

Dig Deeper 

• Analysts expected the party’s success to complicate ongoing trade talks with the US ahead of an August 1 deadline, however, on Tuesday night, the US announced a deal under which Japan will be subject to a 15% tariff, less than the threatened 25%

• Still, Sanesito may complicate future Japan-US security and economic ties as the party seeks to reduce the influence of “globalists” on the country’s policies

QUOTE OF THE DAY

ROCA’S SPONSOR

Big Tech Has Spent Billions Acquiring AI Smart Home Startups

Together with Ryse

The pattern is clear: when innovative companies successfully integrate AI into everyday products, tech giants pay billions to acquire them

• Google paid $3.2B for Nest 

• Amazon spent $1.2B on Ring 

• LG just acquired startup Homey, signaling their move into the smart home industry

• Now, a new AI-powered smart home company is following their exact path to acquisition – but is still available to everyday investors at just $2.00 per share

• With proprietary technology that connects smart shades to all major AI ecosystems, this startup has achieved what big tech wants most: seamless AI integration into daily home life

• Over 10 patents, 200% year-over-year growth, and a forecast to 5x revenue this year – this company is moving fast to seize the smart home opportunity

• The acquisition pattern is predictable. The opportunity to get in before it happens is not

• Last chance to invest at $2.00 and earn bonus shares before the round closes on July 25

KEY STORY

Trapped in China

China imposed exit bans on two American citizens, preventing them from leaving the country

• Beijing has used exit bans as a diplomatic and legal tool, restricting both Chinese and foreign nationals from departing the country

• China restricted a US Patent and Trademark Office employee from leaving the country after he allegedly failed to disclose his government employment on his visa application. The Ministry of State Security reportedly seized his passport, credit card, and electronic devices

• China also blocked a Wells Fargo managing director from returning to her home in Georgia after traveling to China, where she was born. China alleged she was involved in a criminal case

Dig Deeper

• The bans are likely to strain relations between the countries, and the US has urged China "to immediately allow impacted US citizens to return home"

• The restrictions come as Beijing has promoted foreign tourism through visa-free travel arrangements, creating a contradiction between encouraging visits while potentially restricting departures

KEY STORY

Hunter Biden Interview

YouTube journalist Andrew Callaghan released a three-hour interview with Hunter Biden

• In the Channel 5 podcast interview, Hunter blasted Democratic figures, including George Clooney for his op-ed in The New York Times calling for Biden to withdraw, saying "What right do you have to step on a man who's given 52 years of his f***ing life to the service of this country?"

• He also excused his father's June 2024 debate performance – "He flew around the world, basically the mileage that he could have flown around the world, three times. He's 81 years old. He's tired as s***. They give him Ambien to be able to sleep” – while attacking Democratic strategists and commentators

Dig Deeper 

• Hunter said the strategist James Carville "hasn't run a race in 40 f***ing years" while Obama campaign mastermind David Axelrod had "one success in his political life"

• The interview was Hunter’s second lengthy one in a week, with him previously appearing on a podcast with former Democratic National Committee chair Jaime Harrison

• He drew criticism from many Democratic sources, including Bill Clinton adviser Mark Penn – who said his "stomach churns" at Hunter’s comments – and the hosts of Pod Save America, a Democratic establishment podcast that was among Hunter’s targets

RUNDOWN
Some Quick Stories for the Office

☢️ A San Francisco fusion startup claims it can produce gold as a byproduct of nuclear fusion by striking mercury-198 isotopes with neutrons

🗐 The Trump Administration released over 240,000 pages of documents related to Martin Luther King Jr.'s assassination, including previously classified FBI surveillance records

🇷🇺 A Texas father who relocated his family to Russia to escape "woke" American values was deployed to a combat zone on the Russia-Ukraine border

🎸 Heavy metal legend Ozzy Osbourne died at age 76 on Tuesday, with his family announcing he passed away "surrounded by love"

🇺🇸 The Trump Administration announced Tuesday that the US will withdraw from UNESCO, the UN's cultural and educational agency, effective December 2026

What does Roca Nation think?

⏯️ Yesterday’s Question: Who’s your least favorite podcaster/YouTuber?

📸 Today’s Question: Who’s more famous in the US right now: Billie Eilish or Barry Bonds? How about Clint Eastwood vs Zendaya?

Reply to this email with your response!

POPCORN
Some Quick Stories for Happy Hour

🐕‍🦺 Paws on Deck: A once-homeless dog will now become a full-time morale booster aboard a US Navy ship

🗑️ Trash To Tupperware: Researchers have created biodegradable plastic from food waste, offering a sustainable alternative to petroleum-based plastics

🪺 Love Birds: Rare birds are not only surviving, but thriving among Germany’s solar energy parks

⚓️ Lost and Found At Sea: A century-old mystery was solved when divers located the wreck of the HMS Nottingham, a British warship that sank in the North Sea, 60 miles off of Scotland’s coast

🐶 Invasive Species Sniffer Dogs: Almost 200 dogs have joined a groundbreaking citizen science project to see if normal pets can detect invasive species at the same rates as professional conservation dogs

ROCA WRAP
American Justice

Ecuador

This South American nation extradited its most notorious drug kingpin to face American justice.

Ecuador sits strategically along South America's Pacific coast, positioned between Colombia's coca-producing regions and global trafficking routes. Once considered among the continent's most peaceful countries, in the past five years, Ecuador has become a major and violent cocaine transit hub. So bad has the situation become that the country now sends its criminals abroad for justice.

José Adolfo "Fito" Macías Villamar, the 45-year-old leader of Los Choneros gang, built what American prosecutors describe as Ecuador's most violent transnational criminal network, using the country's prisons as operational headquarters. At its peak, Los Choneros claimed 5,000 members inside Ecuador's prison system and 7,000 on the outside, giving Macías extraordinary reach even while incarcerated.

Macías proved that Ecuador's prison walls couldn't contain him, orchestrating two dramatic escapes that embarrassed authorities. In 2013, he and fellow gang members broke out of La Roca maximum-security prison in Guayaquil, immobilizing 14 guards during their getaway. His second escape in January 2024 was even more audacious – having been tipped off about plans to transfer him to another facility, he simply walked out the front door two days before the scheduled move.

During an 18-month search, authorities finally tracked Macías to a luxury villa compound in the coastal city of Manta. Investigators discovered a custom-built underground bunker equipped with a bed, refrigerator, and air conditioning where the drug lord had been hiding. Prosecutors argued that Macías posed both a flight risk and public threat, and he was extradited to the US. On Monday, Macías appeared in Brooklyn Federal Court to face seven cocaine- and weapons-related charges.

From Ecuador's most secure prison to an American courtroom, sometimes justice requires crossing borders.

EDITOR’S NOTE
Final Thoughts

It has to be Barry Bonds, right? Or is that way off? These fame comparisons are fun — we’re debating them in the office right now. Might have a theme for 20 Questions this Friday…

Hope you all have a great day, and thank you for all of the amazing feedback on the Oakland video. The city is brimming with potential. Hopefully it turns around ASAP!

–Max and Max